Hospices aim to pay tribute to dying veterans in their care

World War II veteran Gene Russ, 95, dances with Lois Ciaccio at Lake Shore Commons in Wilmington Tuesday. Russ is legally blind and shows up at all the dances.

Matt Born/Wilmington StarNews

By MOLLY PARKER - Wilmington StarNews

Published: Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 01:23 AM.

Gene Russ is a dancing machine, a lady’s man, a pool shark and a fitness buff. They call him the Fred Astaire of Lake Shore Commons, an independent senior-living community in
Wilmington
.

He's seven months old - plus 95 years, as he puts it.

Russ has outlived his wife of 68 years, one child the couple lost before she turned a year old, and most of his buddies from World War II, where he was a gunner's mate in the Navy.

But he's not likely to survive the congestive heart failure that chips away at his vitality in a slow, cruel progression.

Russ is in hospice care, what's known as end-of-life care for the terminally ill. The main goal is to keep him comfortable. There's no way to predict when he will go - and trust that Russ is a fighter. But one day, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, he will fade away.

When he does, he will join this statistic: on average, every year, one of every four people who die in
America
is a veteran.

Gene Russ is a dancing machine, a lady’s man, a pool shark and a fitness buff. They call him the Fred Astaire of Lake Shore Commons, an independent senior-living community in Wilmington.

He's seven months old - plus 95 years, as he puts it.

Russ has outlived his wife of 68 years, one child the couple lost before she turned a year old, and most of his buddies from World War II, where he was a gunner's mate in the Navy.

But he's not likely to survive the congestive heart failure that chips away at his vitality in a slow, cruel progression.

Russ is in hospice care, what's known as end-of-life care for the terminally ill. The main goal is to keep him comfortable. There's no way to predict when he will go - and trust that Russ is a fighter. But one day, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, he will fade away.

When he does, he will join this statistic: on average, every year, one of every four people who die in America is a veteran.

Vivid memories

Across the nation, hospices are organizing to honor the military men and women whose faces show the wrinkles of battles won and lost at war and on the home front. They seek to pay tribute to those who have made the long transition from their youthful days of uniforms and weapons to the aged comforts of house shoes and recliners.

Because even though decades may have passed since many of these individuals saw action - in the South Pacific, Korea, Vietnam and so on, their time in service, particularly for war-time veterans, is often among the most vivid memories they carry into old age.

“They've had a different life experience than the average population,” said Spencer Levine, a vice president with the Hospice Foundation of America. “They have laid their life on their line and to acknowledge that at the end of their life is really significant.”

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has a program called We Honor Veterans that helps train and recruit local hospice organizations to encourage end-of-life care tailored to veterans' needs. Several North Carolina hospice organizations are partners.

“We really believe there needs to be more national attention for veterans, particularly for combat veterans,” said Jon Radulovic, the organization's spokesperson. “We find they're often unresolved issues with veterans at life's end.”

The organization's website includes a military history checklist for hospice organizations to use that includes branch of service, time of service, what combat he or she saw, and Veterans Affairs benefits the patient is receiving or is eligible to receive.

“Ask about a veteran's time in the service,” the organization encourages. “Since many veterans' stories were never heard, it is important to create a trusting environment and encourage their combat and/or other related experiences. By taking the time to ask about their time in the service, feelings of guilt, anger and other emotions can also be acknowledged.”

'Real hero story'

Russ is in the care of Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter, where he has a team that includes a doctor, social worker, nurse and volunteer. The local hospice is in the early stages of developing veteran-specific programs and teaming up with the We Honor Veterans program.

But they already reach out with an understanding hand to veterans.

For example, Russ was matched with a volunteer who is more than eager to hear him recount his World War II tales. During a recent visit with Russ, Cary Newman, a retired Wilmington resident, repeatedly prompted Russ to tell war story after story. Newman said he never tires of hearing him speak.

“If my father were alive today he would be the same age as Mr. Gene,” Newman said. “For me, it's fun to listen to Mr. Gene because it's a way of reconnecting with my father’s history.”

One of the stories Newman asked Russ to tell was about a day he dislodged a hot shell trapped inside a gun while aboard a ship in the South Pacific. Russ obliged, telling the story like it was no big deal.

“I asked permission to bypass all safety devices and reach in there and fire it from behind the shell by hand,” Russ said. “I would have done it if I would have broken my arm or lost my arm because I was the only one who knew how to.”

Newman interrupted, wide-eyed, to interject that this was a “real hero story.”

“If he didn't release that shell there's a good chance it would have blown up,” he said. “In releasing it, he could have been killed or had his arm blown off. There were no injuries. It's not like a big deal anymore because nobody got hurt, but what he did could have saved an entire ship and all of its men, and probably did.”

It's a good thing Russ saved his arm because one of his favorite past times is playing pool. Once a week he plays with Newman and often wins even though he's been legally blind for 17 years. Other days he challenges himself to a game.

Honored to serve

The We Honor Veterans website lists the histories of various wars and ways in which unique military experiences affect veterans as they approach life's end. For example, it notes that the Korean War is often called the “Forgotten War” and that America's role is generally “vastly understated.” It calls the Vietnam War “the longest and most unpopular war in which Americans ever fought.”

On World War II, it quotes the World Book Encyclopedia, noting it “killed more people, destroyed more property, disrupted more lives, and probably had far more reaching effects than any other war in history.”

Today, WWII veterans are all over 70 and subject to all types of diseases of aging and are quickly fading from the American landscape.

“However, in the early 1940s, they were among the nation's fittest and participated in modern warfare that coincided with major advances in modern medicine,” the site reads.

Russ said he feels honored by most people for the time he spent serving his country. But he's glad he got out of the Navy after his six-year stint because his supervisor was bothering him so much he nearly got an ulcer. Of the things that agitated him, Russ said he was put on scullery maid (dishes) duty when he returned from an emergency leave to see his brother who had been in a tractor accident.

“If I had a stayed that ulcer that was about to come probably would have carried me to the promise land,” he said.

But then Russ smiled. Because later that night, he planned to dance cheek-to-cheek with a few lady friends at a social sponsored by his senior-living center.

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Facts

The following represents the numbers of North Carolinians who have served in the military as of September 30, 2012: